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Our country faces a test like never before, and journalism needs to rise to the challenge. If you can, please help us get to the $400,000 goal Mother Jones needs to keep going strong with a donation today.

She isn’t the first candidate to stop by Chez Vachon looking for a few votes and some good photos. So many candidates have stopped by the iconic French-Canadian establishment that it’s made life complicated for the people who work there. Donald Trump was there on Sunday. Bill and Hillary Clinton stopped in for breakfast on Monday.

Trump’s visit was a “zoo,” Jenna Desmarais, the manager, told me.

“They were nice and everything—they just had a really big entourage, really big,” she said. “We didn’t have any notice and so all of a sudden there’s people coming in the back door of the kitchen, there were people over here, state police shut down the road, they were trying to pat down our customers. It was really uncomfortable—like I had to tell them they couldn’t do that, that’s not okay.”

It made it nearly impossible for everyone else to have breakfast. “I eventually had to find somebody and say, ‘Listen I understand you guys are doing your job, but I gotta do mine,’ and we couldn’t even move. Couldn’t even move! So they did. He’s like, ‘Let them get their pictures and kick everybody out.'”

The Clintons’ visit was a lower-key affair, and in Desmarais’ view, they were friendlier (although Trump did tip 50 percent). “They were very relaxed because they’ve been here before,” Desmarais sadi. “She’s like, ‘I’m definitely eating.'” (They both had veggie omelets; Hillary got a side of sausage. In case you were wondering.) “They seemed more interested in actual people than in just shaking hands.”

So far, the only major candidate who hasn’t stopped by Chez Vachon this election cycle is her favorite. “I’m actually a fan of Bernie,” she said. But she’s never met him. “He’s the only one who hasn’t been there!”

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This feels like the most important fundraising drive since I've been CEO of Mother Jones, with staggeringly high stakes and so much uncertainty. In "News Is Just Like Waste Management," I try to unpack the reality we all face and how we can rise to the challenge. If you're able to, this is a critical moment to support Mother Jones’ nonprofit journalism: We need to raise $400,000 to help cover the vital reporting projects we have planned, and right now is no time to pull back.

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Dear Reader,

This feels like the most important fundraising drive since I've been CEO of Mother Jones, with staggeringly high stakes and so much uncertainty. In "News Is Just Like Waste Management," I try to unpack the reality we all face and how we can rise to the challenge. If you're able to, this is a critical moment to support Mother Jones’ nonprofit journalism: We need to raise $400,000 to help cover the vital reporting projects we have planned, and right now is no time to pull back.